 | May 8, 2013Here are the tools I use regularly to help with my SEO consulting services. Read More >> |
 | November 14, 2012There's a lot of talk lately of Google having finally killed SEO through their Panda and Penguin algorithms, which continue to ensnare more and more websites with every new update. So is SEO really (finally) dead?
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 | October 3, 2012Do You Run Ranking Reports? Read More >> |
 | September 5, 2012This week, rather than a High Rankings Question of the Week, I've got a rant of the week instead. Read More >> |
 | July 25, 2012As you know, I've been reviewing tons of websites that have lost Google traffic lately. Most of the reasons that the sites lost favor with Google have been fairly obvious (to me)--especially the sites that have seen steep declines. Most of the reasons include any combination of...
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 | July 11, 2012Ever since Panda and Penguin have hit, a lot of companies have lost a large percentage of their website visitors. Unfortunately, many of them were taken advantage of by shady SEO companies.
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 | July 11, 2012Name some web spam you still see being offered by shady SEO companies. Read More >> |
 | November 30, 2011If you could only ask 10 general (non-industry-specific) questions of your new SEO customers, what would they be and why would their answers help you help them? Read More >> |
 | September 7, 2011When building links or doing other search marketing tasks, it necessary to lie? Isn't that sort of thing exactly what gives marketers in general (not just search marketers) a bad reputation?
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 | September 7, 2011Are dishonesty, stretching the truth, or white lies necessary to be a good marketer? Read More >> |
 | June 15, 2011Not a week goes by where a reader or a client doesn't ask me a question based on some bad SEO advice they heard or read somewhere. In this article, I try to figure out where it's coming from and why it gets spread. Read More >> |
 | June 1, 2011Do you "optimize" for search engines regardless of whether it's from a computer or a mobile device? Read More >> |
 | April 20, 2011I have a client who was called by [one of those online Yellow Pages–type companies] that would build him a website for $39 a month, which he wants to look into. What could I tell him that would convince him to go with me? Read More >> |
 | April 6, 2011In an effort to keep you from spending your precious time on supposed SEO tactics that will have absolutely no effect on your rankings, search engine visitors, conversions or sales, I present you with 16 SEO tactics that you can remove from your personal knowledge base and/or SEO toolbox as being in any way related to SEO.
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 | April 6, 2011Name a common SEO tactic that doesn't actually move the needle in terms of rankings or traffic. Read More >> |
 | December 15, 2010When a client hires an outside SEO consultant during the design and development of a new website, it's often not looked upon kindly by the development team. Chances are the team has had bad experiences with an SEO who forced them to design for search engines and not for people. Read More >> |
 | September 8, 2010...If you don't keep your SEO abreast of website changes. ...If you think your SEO can work independently and not need (a lot of) your help. ...If you know enough SEO to be dangerous. Read More >> |
 | July 28, 2010I'm considering starting my own SEO company and working with local businesses and I was wondering if you could offer any advice.
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 | July 14, 2010If you're a website designer, do you work with SEOs? If you're an SEO, do you work with developers? Read More >> |
 | July 14, 2010Google AdWords Setup, Tune-ups, Audits Read More >> |
 | June 30, 2010For the past few weeks I've been tasked with reviewing a few different sites that have seen a loss in traffic – their owners hoped to find out why... I can usually make some educated guesses based on what I dig up in Google Analytics.
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 | June 16, 2010Lots of new SEO website reviews and site audits to take care of over the next few weeks. Let me know if you're interested in one for your site.
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 | May 5, 2010Here are some of the more prevalent myths I hear and see bandied about in SEO articles, at SEO conferences, in SEO blogs and on SEO forums. Read More >> |
 | May 5, 2010What's Your Favorite SEO Myth? Read More >> |
| March 10, 2010Which Parts of SEO Do You Outsource? Read More >> |
| February 24, 2010I've had the opportunity to work with a variety of businesses through the years – from tiny one-person small businesses to huge international companies. While there are many similarities in working with different sized companies, there are also important differences. Read More >> |
| February 24, 2010New Affordable SEO Small-Business Package. Read More >> |
| January 20, 2010When you begin optimizing a website, does it have to go down while creating meta tags – title, description, keyword? OR do we need to back up the website first? Read More >> |
| January 20, 2010I was wondering what the differences are between SEM and SEO. Read More >> |
| January 6, 2010I've been SEO'ing websites long before the 21st century began. Sometimes I feel I've been touting the same SEO processes and procedures for the past 10 years. Read More >> |
| January 6, 2010Brand-New Service! Link-Building Roadmap Report Read More >> |
| October 14, 2009Do you think SEO is undervalued by most companies? Why or why not? Read More >> |
| September 16, 2009Our friends at 24-7 Press Release Newswire have once again provided High Rankings Advisor readers with a special Fall discount on their press release distribution service. Read More >> |
| September 16, 2009So you're probably wondering what's up with the price slashing in the newsletter ad for our SEO services. Have I finally lost my mind completely? Is this a last-ditch effort before we go bankrupt? Read More >> |
| September 2, 2009My plan is to move all the home decor products from the old site to the new one AND change the products of the old one back to selling the jewelry, perfume, wallets, etc. – that is, the "gifty" stuff.
What is the best way to make this change? Read More >> |
| September 2, 2009I have a corporate client that is planning to purchase a company in Switzerland and they are wondering if I can do the SEO. But then it dawned on me, checking their rankings with a U.S.-based IP address might deliver different search results…do you think? Read More >> |
| August 5, 2009My Twitter question for this week was: "The hardest part of SEO is...?" Read More >> |
| August 5, 2009In response to my "Most of SEO Is a Boondoggle" article, my buddy Andrew Goodman from Traffick.com had some very interesting follow-up questions for me. Read More >> |
| July 22, 2009A lot of companies get so confused when attempting to hire an SEO firm that they simply give up altogether and don't hire anyone. Part of the problem is that they simply don't know whom to trust for this service. Read More >> |
| May 13, 2009A couple of weeks ago, I received the following request from an email address in India:
"sir/madam.i want to start SEO(search engine optimization)business.but before
that i want to know about SEO.how to intitate this?can u please help me?" Read More >> |
| March 4, 2009My question is, how should SEO services be evaluated? In other words, what measurable objectives beyond landing above the fold are appropriate? Read More >> |
| February 4, 2009What do you think about a potential SEO client who asks you to agree not to work with any related company for 2 years after the conclusion of the business relationship? Read More >> |
| January 7, 2009Forum member "Say Yebo" was putting together an SEO proposal for a potential client who wanted to know if the project would be different because they had already done some SEO stuff. Read More >> |
| January 7, 2009So did you get any time off during the holidays? We had a really good time in Florida for the 5 days we were there. The weather was half good, half bad, but their "bad" is way better than winter in New England, so it was fine. Read More >> |
| December 17, 2008In 2005, when I originally wrote the article below, I thought by the time 2009 approached, things would have changed. Yet many businesses continue to have unrealistic expectations of what an SEO campaign is all about. We've had a number of calls to our office recently from companies who continue to be hung up over one specific keyword phrase, with no interest in branching out to others. Surprisingly, I changed very little of the content of this article because the message is still as valid as the day I wrote it. Read More >> |
| October 22, 2008I wanted to let you know about a free webinar that I'm doing with MarketingSherpa called "New Research Findings: Search Marketing Tips, Tactics and Trends." Read More >> |
| September 23, 2008Sales are down for many businesses due to the slow economy. Business owners and CEOs are looking for that one thing that can pull them through the hard times and keep them afloat. When times get tough, many turn to SEO, hoping that it will be the ticket to increased sales. While SEO is almost always a good idea, if you're counting on it to save a failing business, you may want to rethink things.
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| April 9, 2008In a nutshell, I don't believe we need them. That said, after reading additional forum discussions on the topic, it certainly does make sense for search marketing organizations such as SEMPO to have a set of standards that their members must adhere to (if they don't already). However, there's no way for the search marketing industry as a whole to have standards, as we don't have (nor do we need) some sort of governing body that would enforce them. Read More >> |
| March 26, 2008Forum member "lenwood" has provided a client with lots of SEO recommendations that should ultimately increase their search engine traffic. That is, however, if the client would only implement them! Read More >> |
| February 6, 2008Nearly every day I hear from newsletter subscribers, forum posters, and potential clients who've been charged with the task of learning how to optimize their company's website to gain more targeted search engine traffic, but they simply don't know where to begin or the best way to go about it. Read More >> |
| January 2, 2008This week we read Marketing Sherpa’s 2008 Search Marketing Benchmark Guide, and have provided our thoughts about it for you here. Enjoy! – Jill Read More >> |
| December 19, 2007I am coming across a lot of offers for software for SEO. A lot of them are
offering different sorts of analyzers, etc. — which I’m not sure are
helpful. Is there any sort of software that is real SEO software and
actually does some actual SEO work to your site? Read More >> |
| December 19, 2007I mentioned last time that we were going to start offering highly personalized SEO training classes (limited to 10 people per class) at our High Rankings headquarters in Framingham, MA.
Read More >> |
| December 19, 2007If you'd rather learn from the comfort of your own home/office, we have an alternative for you -- our video of a past High Rankings seminar (different from the training sessions mentioned above, but just as good!). Read More >> |
| December 19, 2007We haven't hit you up for a poll in awhile because we didn't want to wear you out. But now we have a survey for you that's a little bit longer than
usual. Don't worry, it's really not that long, only 10 questions, and one
of those asks for your email address (if you want a crack at the free gift).
Read More >> |
| October 31, 2007One of my biggest headaches is working out how to charge and how much to
charge my clients for my services. Read More >> |
| October 16, 2007Pauline Kerbici has put on her interview hat once again, this time to speak
with Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Land, about in-house SEM/SEO vs. agency SEM/SEO.
Take it away, Pauline! - Jill Read More >> |
| October 3, 2007To gain credibility, I
often send my clients to sign up for your newsletter to show that I am not
the only one telling them whatever it is I am telling them at the time.
With that, the answer to a question from your last newsletter could severely
hurt my (our) business.
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| September 26, 2007Forum member "rolf" told the community of a website design company that
created a brand-new site completely in Flash for a client, even though the
client expressed an interest in having the website found in the search
engines. Read More >> |
| September 25, 2007I have a really quick question I hope you can help with. There is a small
business in town that is paying $200 a month to have another company make
sure it stays at the top of the ranking lists in search engines. Now if
there is no new competition, except maybe a new office every few years, is
it necessary to pay them, or could they do it themselves with the guidance
you offer on your website? Read More >> |
| May 30, 2007Forum member "kurzo" asks, "If you do SEO, SEM, optimisation, etc., do you
call yourself a Search Engine Marketer? Web Marketer?" Read More >> |
| May 16, 2007Forum member "Angelina" wonders about an unsolicited email she received from
a so-called SEO company saying that her optimized site was actually
unoptimized. Read More >> |
| April 4, 2007Speaking of polls and surveys, we’ve also been surveying the folks who’ve
taken me up on my introductory 15-minute tele-clinic offer. Since first
announced, I’ve done 31 of these. Read More >> |
| February 21, 2007"Kalew" asks website developers how much time they spend training their
clients to upload new content to the server. Read More >> |
| February 21, 2007That's it for today -- check back next week for a full newsletter!
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| February 14, 2007In a conversation with my Director of Marketing the other day (yes, I really
do have one!), we were lamenting the fact that we have to turn down so many
leads because they are small businesses who can’t afford our services. I’ve
been lucky enough to be able to work with larger companies for many years,
and of course I charge accordingly. Read More >> |
| December 13, 2006I’ve been told that adding a site map to our website increases the chance of
search engines linking to other pages in our site. Any truth to this? Read More >> |
| November 29, 2006As you know there are a lot of so-called SEO/SEM experts/gurus claiming all sorts of things. The analogy to me is like "quack" doctors compared to the genuine article. Are there 6 or a dozen questions that would expose those purporting to be experts? Read More >> |
| November 8, 2006My CEO has been forwarding me your newsletters for some time now. I am in
need of advice, and I am hoping you might be able to help me out. We offer
online services and have been online since 1997 with our websites. I know a
little about SEO because I was once a junior SEO rep for my former SEO
manager but my primary skill set is not doing SEO but more managing those
who do it. Read More >> |
| October 11, 2006To go along with today’s featured article on trust, we also have a forum
thread on a similar theme. Read More >> |
| October 11, 2006
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| August 2, 2006New forum member "norty911" asks fellow members if anybody knows of a place
where he/she can find a copy of an SEO disclaimer that says he/she cannot be
held responsible if there is not a significant increase in rankings for
his/her clients' sites.
Read More >> |
